Trump’s top diplomat Marco Rubio has urged Vladimir Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire – after the Kremlin said it was studying the proposal but would not agree to anything until it had heard from the US. Follow the latest here.
Wednesday 12 March 2025 17:43, UK
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Live reporting by Adam McGroarty
More to bring you now from Donald Trump – who has continued to address the US proposal of a 30-day ceasefire after welcoming the world’s media into the Oval Office.
The US president says „we have a very complex situation solved on one side, pretty much solved“ after talks with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia yesterday.
He says „we’ve discussed a lot of the details“ including the areas of land involved in the proposed deal, bit insists „we don’t want to be wasting time“.
„People are dying… as we’re sitting here, you probably had two people die on that very open field, it’s dead flat, great farmland and it’s dead flat,“ he adds.
„There’s no protection, the only thing that stops a bullet is a human body and these bodies are young people.“
Trump describes the situation as a „disaster“ and says „I hope he [Putin] is going to have a ceasefire“.
Sitting in front of the cameras in the Oval Office just now, Donald Trump said „we have people going to Russia right now“.
Only one man has been trusted to head up his envoy to Moscow, and he’s far from the typical diplomat.
Initially named as Trump’s Middle East envoy shortly after the US election, Steve Witkoff has since been involved in negotiations with Russia about ending the war in Ukraine.
His surprise trip to Moscow last month to achieve the release of US citizen Marc Fogel seemed to secure the 67-year-old as the US leader’s geopolitical dealmaker-in-chief…
Read our profile of Witkoff here:
Since the US proposal of a 30-day ceasefire was raised in talks with Ukrainian officials yesterday, the big question on the lips of analysts has been whether Russia would accept the plans.
That is something US senator Lindsey Graham says he remains „extremely sceptical“ about.
He says „it is clear“ Volodymyr Zelenskyy is willing to make peace, and repeated Marco Rubio’s statement that the ball is now in Russia’s court.
„Zelenskyy has passed the test of wanting peace. It is now up to Putin to show his cards,“ Graham says.
He goes on to say he will be introducing „bone-breaking sanctions and tariffs against Russia before the end of the week“ in order to move towards peace.
„If they do not pursue the ceasefire with the same vigour as Ukraine, there will be hell to pay,“ he adds.
Away from the White House, the UK has summoned its Russian ambassador.
It says it is clear that Russia is trying to drive the British embassy in Moscow towards closure, and adds it is revoking accreditation for a Russian diplomat and diplomatic spouse.
It comes in response to Russia expelling a British diplomat and their spouse earlier this week.
‚The depths to which Russia sinks can only be met through strength‘
In a statement, the Foreign Office said: „We do not take this decision lightly, but we have always made clear to Russia that if they escalate, we will take reciprocal action. The depths to which Russia sinks can only be met through strength.
„Despite the extremely difficult bilateral relations caused by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and long-running campaign of hostile action against the UK, the UK Government believes that maintaining diplomatic channels of communication, and our respective diplomatic missions, is important.
„It is deeply disappointing that this is continually made more difficult by unprovoked action from Russia.
„We have drawn a line under this incident and demand Russia do the same. Any further action taken by Russia will be considered an escalation and responded to accordingly.“
Donald Trump is hosting Ireland’s prime minister at the White House – and with the world’s media assembled he isn’t missing out on a chance to discuss key issues.
He says the US has received „some positive messages“ after its proposal of a ceasefire at talks with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia yesterday.
„Hopefully we can get a ceasefire,“ he tells reporters, adding „it is up to Russia now“.
The US president also says „we have people going to Russia right now“ – following reports his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow this week.
That comes after the Kremlin said it will not decide on the US-proposed ceasefire until it hears from the Americans (see 9.49am post).
But Trump also had a warning for Russia, saying „there are things you could do in a financial sense that would be very bad for Russia“.
By Freya Gibson, junior OSINT producer
More now on the situation in Kursk – which we’ve been reporting on throughout the day.
Videos geolocated by Sky News show Russian forces swiftly advancing on the key town of Sudzha on its southern border.
More than 10 videos show Russian soldiers destroying bridges and recapturing villages, before moving into Sudzha and planting a Russian flag in the centre.
Ukraine took control of Sudzha during the Kursk offensive in August 2024 in just under two weeks.
Now, in a matter of days, Russian forces have reclaimed the centre of the town.
The map below shows the locations of Russian troops in and around Sudzha that Sky News has verified. The orange dots show Russian troops and advances, and the grey dots show the former positions of Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainian troops seen fleeing
Sudzha is situated just north of the border to Ukraine in Kursk and had a pre-invasion population of more than 5,000 people.
The footage we found shows Russian forces closing in on the town by striking surrounding villages and Ukrainian military equipment.
On 11 March, footage showed large groups of Ukrainian troops pulling back from the centre of Sudzha on foot.
A day later, Russian forces could be seen posing in the town, holding the flags of the Russian Federation and the Wagner Group.
We’re just receiving pictures showing the defence ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK meeting in Paris.
They are holding virtual discussions with Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov over aid for his country, with a follow-up meeting to be held on building European defence capabilities.
We’ll be monitoring developments from the meeting and will bring you updates on this live page.
More to bring you now from a Russian missile attack yesterday on the Black Sea port of Odesa.
Ukraine’s foreign minister has described the strike as an attack on global food security and maritime safety.
Four people were killed in the strike which also damaged a grain vessel.
„It demonstrates how close this war is to Algeria, Syria and other countries,“ Andrii Sybiha said in a post on social media site X.
He also added the vessel was due to deliver wheat to Algeria.
Our security and defence analyst Michael Clarke has just finished answering your questions, including:
You can scroll back through his answers in the live page below.
You can also watch the discussion back in the YouTube video below.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke has been answering your questions on the war in Ukraine in the past half hour.
You can catch up on the link in our post below – but here is one of the key questions he answered.
Why would Russia agree to a ceasefire now?
In short – a ceasefire now is „of more tactical use to the Ukrainians than it is to the Russians“, he says.
The Russians think they’re doing well on the battlefield, he adds, and are making progress in the Kursk region (see our 8am post).
„The Russians would rather carry on, the Ukrainians would rather get a pause,“ Clarke says.
But both sides „could do with a rest“ and „both sides would use any time… to reorganise themselves and restock as far as they can“.
„Both sides have an incentive, a tactical incentive to do that,“ Clarke continues.
„But the incentive for the Ukrainians is greater than the incentive for the Russians.“
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Ukraine war latest: Trump adds to pressure on Putin to accept ceasefire – as UK summons Russian ambassador – Sky News
